Lunar New Year Celebrations Blast Off
Posted February 3, 2011 7:07 am.
This article is more than 5 years old.
From Beijing to Toronto, New Year’s Eve celebrations kicked off with a bang on Wednesday.
The Year of the Rabbit officially began on February 3.
Chinese-Canadians ushered in 4709 with live music at Markham’s Pacific Mall and in China, people set off fireworks – in one case, with disastrous results. A five-star hotel the country’s northeast was destroyed by the display, but no one was injured.
The country has 1.3 billion people and hundreds of millions of them tuned in to the televised New Year’s Gala, the world’s most watched annual TV spectacular.
The show – including comedy skits, acrobatics, operatic soviet songs and ethnic minority dances – lasted four hours.
And in Beijing, residents of the capital are allowed to set off fireworks until the 15th day of the Lunar New Year.
Celebrations were also held in North Korea, with state media saying citizens brought flowers to the grave of the country’s founder, President Kim Il Sung.
In the Philippines, thousands of Chinese-Filipinos gathered in Manila’s Quirino Grand Stand to participate in the New Year countdown.
Celebrations were also held in Singapore and Japan.
